


I think I’m really glad the A/C stopped working

by confusednp



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Barista!Phil, M/M, absolutely - Freeform, celebrate how cliche it is, did I just write a coffeeshop au?, writer!Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 21:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14881812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confusednp/pseuds/confusednp
Summary: Phil’s tired of working at Starbucks with no love life to speak of. All he has is his cat, his coworker, and his mysterious favorite fanfiction author. Oh, and that cute boy in the tattoo shop next door.





	I think I’m really glad the A/C stopped working

“Can I use your air conditioning?”

Phil glanced up from the iced latte he was making to look at at the panting man in front of him, and almost dropped the drink. It was the hot guy he kept seeing through the window of Shape, the tattoo place next door. “Uh, be my guest, I guess. I just make the drinks, but I’m pretty sure air is free.”

The man sighed in relief, pushing back his damp brown curls. “Thank fucking god.” A middle aged woman in line shook her head disapprovingly. “Sorry,” he continued, “but the A/C isn’t turning on where I work and I was gonna lose my mind if I had to sweat out my break in there.”

Phil handed the drink over the counter to a bored looking teenage girl. “Hey, it’s no problem.” He lowered his voice. “You didn’t hear it from me, but the best seat is just outside the bathrooms. Right under the vent.”

Whoever this guy was, he had a cute smile. “Nice mate. Thanks for that.”

“No problem. You have a name?”

The stranger raised his eyebrows. “Dan.”

“Excuse me? Some of us want our drinks today,” called a mom with a stroller from the line. 

Phil winced. “Duty calls.” 

__________

Somehow though, in the turmoil of the 3 pm rush, he found time to steal a few looks at the man in the corner. Between too many unnecessary trips to the milk steamer, he gathered that he was working on something important. He was typing furiously on his laptop most of the time, but occasionally staring blankly into space, like he’d lost his train of thought. Phil kind of wanted to know what he was writing. 

“Hey Lester! You’re slow today.”

Phil’s head whipped around. He sighed in relief at the sight of a young woman with pink hair. She laughed at his startled expression. “What, did you think I was the boss or someone? You looked like a deer in the headlights there bud.”

Phil grinned at her. “You wish you were half as scary as him, Nicole.”

“I wish I was half as scary as your spelling.” She picked a paper cup from where it was waiting to be filled. “In what world does ‘Mark’ have two r’s?”

Phil snatched it back and added six pumps of syrup. “The world where it’s legal to ask for this much hazelnut in your coffee,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

“Bad choice Marrk,” Nicole replied, emphasizing the r.

Phil poured more coffee grounds into the machine and ginned. Wednesdays were always the best. Nicole worked his shift, customers were more patient because of ‘hump day’, and his favorite fanfiction updated at the end of the day.

Tonight would be pleasant, just he and his cat, Lucky, snuggled under a blanket together inside.

Nicole bumped his shoulder with hers, jerking him back to the machine he was standing at. “Who’s Mr. FBI in the corner there?”

Phil watched Dan type for a while. “Dunno. He asked if he could borrow the air conditioning.”

Nicole snorted. “Then why’s he checking you out? A/C my ass.”

“He is not.”

“Is too.”

“You don’t even know if he, y’know, swings that way,” Phil pointed out, scribbling something sort of close to ‘Hayley’ on a cup.

Nicole did one of her long, dramatic sighs. Her pink hair moved with the shaking of her head. “You’re right. I guess I’ll let you live alone and sad for the rest of your life.”

Phil scoffed. “Please. I’m not lonely.”

“Right,” Nicole said with a knowing smile. “You have your cat and Buffy The Vampire Slayer Boxed Edition: Seasons 1 Through 5.” 

“So come over tonight. We can make popcorn.”

Nicole snapped her gum. “Can’t. I’ve got a date.”

Phil raised his eyebrows in amusement. “Again? Go on, what’s her name?”

“Dodie. Apparently she’s big into the music scene.”

Phil was all too familiar with Nicole’s dating struggles. They seemed to sit on opposite sides of a scale, with her meeting someone new at every club they went to, and him sitting inside every evening with Lucky. He wished it was different sometimes, that he could be the desirable one for once. He wasn’t jealous, just fed up. Girls, guys, no matter who he dated, he couldn’t click.

“Have fun then.” Phil could feel his expression turning sour, unable to stop a trace of bitterness from leaking into his voice.

Nicole’s face softened. “Hey. We can hang out on Friday. I’ll get you out of your flat for a few hours.”

Phil let out a long breath. “Great.”

Nicole bit her lip. “Phil, you know I didn’t mean it when I said you were alone. You’ve got me. And Lucky. And your parents. You’re not lonely.”

Phi wondered if even Nicole believed that anymore.

——————-

 

Phil was driving home when he got the alert. He didn’t turn notifications on for anyone but the writer of his current favorite ongoing fic. He glanced at the clock in his car. Damn it. He’d have to wait eight minutes to read the latest chapter. Phil kicked himself. Come on, you’re not some rabid fangirl. You can't fucking drive home without reading this? You’re a grown ass man.

“I’m a grown ass man,” Phil said aloud to himself, just reaffirming it. His Buffy Summers figurine looked at him doubtfully from the dashboard of his car.

Sure he was a mature adult with worthwhile ways to use his time. That didn’t mean he wasn’t curled up on the couch, still in his work clothes, reading the minute he got home. The author always started each chapter with a note to the readers. 

Hello internet! Sorry for updating a little later than usual, the cooling system in my building broke this morning and I had to finish writing this chapter in a coffee shop. Hopefully it’s up to par. Enjoy!

Phil always read the author’s notes for some reason. Maybe it connected him more to the writing, or helped him understand where the author was coming from. It didn’t matter though. The writer had no idea Phil existed, nor would they care. Still, he took the time to leave a comment.

“lmao someone came into the starbucks i work at and wrote bc their a/c was broken too”

Not ten minutes later, a ping came from Phil’s laptop.

 

Phil let himself fall back on the sofa. This was the great thing about fanfiction. You could talk to the author and actually communicate through nice (sometimes) comments. The entire thing was mostly positive, and the characters always ended up together, a nice change from his own problems with love. Phil couldn’t help but think that if he’d just made a move with Dan, maybe something could’ve happened. 

He shook his head at himself. This wasn’t a fic. Nobody was writing him to be better than he actually was, and tall weird nerds just didn’t win in real life.

Maybe going on tumblr would drown out the pangs of loneliness he felt when the left side of the bed was a little too cold, too empty. Of course, the first post on his dashboard was naturally from aestheticallydisappointing. He really couldn’t escape the guy today. The least he could do was read the post though. The writer never usually made his own posts, instead reblogging too many gifs to count. 

Still can’t stop thinking about the guy who works in the coffee shop next to me. Pretty sure he just likes me as a friend though.

Of course, Phil thought of Dan. Of his soft curls, and big brown eyes, and lack of a filter. Fucking hell, was he pathetic enough to get a crush on a guy he’d spoken to for five minutes? It’d seemed like there was a connection though, and Nicole had said Dan had been checking him out.

He reblogged the post, adding “ugh i’m in the same situation. maybe approach him with a pun, like say ‘how you bean?’”

That was the closest Phil could get to giving relationship advice, seeing as he was pretty in need of some himself. As he stretched out of the couch, Lucky kneading her paws into his arm, he wondered if he’d do it differently if he could do this morning over again. Maybe he’d ask for Dan’s number, or bring him a drink. More than likely he’d just do it the same and wind up back on the sofa, thinking about a guy he’d never get. Phil rolled over and lifted Lucky off of him, not finding the motivation to get up and sleep in his bed.

———————

“Morning, sunshine,” Phil singsonged as he mussed Nicole’s hair.

She grimaced and reached for the cup of dark roast in Phil’s hand.

“Hey! That was mine.”

She gestured toward her creased outfit and messy hair. “I think it’s fair to say I need this more than you do.”

Phil smirked. “Wild night, eh?”

Nicole groaned. “Tell me about it. I’ll give you two words. Body. Shots.”

“So you liked her?”

It was comical to see Nicole’s face brighten so quickly. “Yeah! She likes the ukulele and she can sing. Plus she’s hot.”

“Somebody who shares your fascination with an obscure instrument like the uke? She’s a keeper.”

Nicole flicked him in the arm. “Speaking of, Mr. FBI’s place still doesn’t have heating or cooling, which means you’ve got another chance.”

Phil dragged a hand across his face. “His name’s Dan. And how do you know that?”

“I did a little digging last night. While hilariously drunk.”

“Well we have a four hour shift to work today, so you’d better fight the hangover off.”

Nicole flipped him off through sips of his coffee.

——————

That afternoon, when the door chimed out Dan’s arrival, he didn’t stop to say hi. He just gave Phil and exaggerated wink, and headed over to the table under the vent. Phil noticed he was wearing all black again, and carrying his laptop. God, this boy was a walking tumblr moodboard. The best view of him was from the espresso machine, so as Phil made someone whose name could’ve maybe been Aaron a drink, he stole a long look at Dan. At the way his brows furrowed when he wrote a difficult part, and how he swept his hair off of his face every few minutes, only for it to fall back again.

“Do something Philly. All of yesterday, I had to watch you two make heart eyes at each other, so don’t make it a waste of my day.”

“Nicole, I can’t. I’m just…”

She scoffed. “Yeah, you’re fucking nervous. I’ve heard it before. Go over there and offer him this vanilla soy iced latte before I kick your ass all the way back to Manchester.”

“Go what?”

“You heard me.” Her demeanor softened a little. “I just want this to be good for you. I know you can do it.”

Phil squared his shoulders and swept his quiff up a little further. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ll just give it to him and go.” He knew making the plans would wind him up even tighter, but he couldn’t help the need to prepare.

“Go get him, tiger.”

Every step towards Dan felt like a mile. You can turn back now Phil. Just do it. Bullshit. This was a drink, which was a perfectly friendly thing to give someone else. 

“Hey Dan! Looked like you were working hard on whatever you’re writing, and I wondered if you wanted a drink?”

Dan’s face broke out into a sunny smile. “Hey thanks! Phil, right?”

“Yeah. Everything good?”

“Everything’s great,” Dan said. “And you? How you bean?”

Phil’s world stopped.

“How’ve I what?”

Dan looked uncertain. “How you bean? It’s a pun on ‘how you been’ but about coffee?” He trailed off near the end, as if he was afraid he’d said the wrong thing.

Phil let out an incredulous laugh. “No fucking way.”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“I’m good, thanks, aestheticallydisappointing.”

Dan looked confused for a second before his face showed awed recognition. “You mean…”

“You’re the fic writer I’ve been reading for months.”

Dan’s eyebrows shot up. “Which means you’re the one who said you understood my situation.”

He stood up out of his chair. “As a matter of fact, I have been working hard on my laptop. On next week’s chapter.”

Phil tried hard not to squeal aloud at the prospect of seeing his favorite author’s work before he published it. Tried being the key word. 

Dan have a fond laugh. “It’s cute when you’re excited.”

“It’s cute when you do anything,” Phil breathed.

“So now what?” Dan asked.

Phil grinned. “Well. We could get coffee?”

Dan shoved his shoulder. “You can take the man from the bar, but you can’t take the barista from the man.”

“Hey! I have a paycheck to make!”

Dan looked up into Phil’s eyes. And how had Phil ot noticed that Dan’s eyes weren’t just brown, they were chocolate, and honey, and mahogany?

“Phil?”

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m really glad the A/C stopped working.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come yell at me @confusednp on tumblr!


End file.
